Friday, June 30, 2017

The Iraqi forces (ISF) made a huge symbolic victory finally
capturing the Nouri Mosque and making other advances in west Mosul. Ninewa We
Are Coming commander General Abdul Amir Rasheed Yarallah announced that the mosque and the
Islamic State’s headquarters in Sargkhana, both in the Old City, were freed by
the ISF. Bab Lakash, Bab
al-Jadid and Bab al-Baid, which has been declared liberated twice, were still
under siege,
and the government’s troops were also moving towards Makawi and Shahar Suq. To
the north Shifa
was said to have been captured for
the fourth time. According
to the government the capture of the Nouri Mosque meant that the Islamic State’s
caliphate was coming to an end. That was where IS declared its state three
years ago. After three months of heavy fighting the ISF finally seized it. These
latest advances still leave roughly half of the Old City under insurgent
control.

Thursday, June 29, 2017

The Iraqi forces have completed the first phase of the Old City battle, dividing the district in two and taking the western section. Green = liberated, Red = contested, Gold = IS control
(Ninewa Media Center)

There were more advances in the Old City district of west
Mosul by the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF). The Federal Police seized
Hkatoniya and Katunya in the center and were heading towards Farouq Street, an
area that was said to be freed before, while the army’s 16th
Division took
Hadra al-Sadaa and Ahmadiya in the north. The Iraqi forces (ISF) were also pushing towards the south at Bab
al-Bawab, Arjkhana, Bab al-Jadid, and Bab al-Lakash, and east into Farouq 2.
Federal Police Chief General Raed Shakir Jawadat claimed that 70% of the Old
City was now under government control. The ISF have completed the first part of
its strategy for the district. The north to south thrust has been accomplished
now giving the government forces control of most of the western half of the
district. The final move is from west to east to reach the Tigris and again
divide the Old City in two. Units are also moving along the northern and
southern perimeter to finish off the pincer move. That will divide the
defenders into smaller, and more manageable groups to destroy.

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Federal Police officer fighting
in the rubble of the Old City in west Mosul (Reuters)

Iraqi advances in west Mosul have been steady, while a
recent counter attack by the Islamic State in liberated areas of the city has
slowed them down. The army’s 15th Division is moving along the
northern axes of the Old City and freed Mashahda
in the northwest corner of the district. The Federal Police are working along
the southern edge of the Old City and down the middle. They freed Bab al-Baid
for the second time and Ras al-Jadda. Federal Police commander General Raed
Shakir Jawadat said his forces were pushing towards Qurnish
along the Tigris River, which would bisect the district in two. At the same
time, units from the Golden Division were diverted
to Yarmouk, Tanak, and Rajam al-Hadeed where IS launched a surprise attack on June
25. Seven IS fighters were killed in Yarmouk,
and the Iraqi forces (ISF) were carrying out mass arrests there, Tanak, and two
other neighboring areas. The cordon around the Old City was also tightened to
try to prevent any infiltrations by insurgents. Finally, the army’s 9th
Division was still attempting to seize the Republican Hospital and other
buildings in Shifa,
which is to the north of the Old City. Overall, the War Media Cell announced
that 50% of the Old City was now under government control, and IS down to seven
neighborhoods. On June
25, the Joint Operations Command claim IS had six areas that somehow was
only 1% of the Old City, while the Golden Division said 65-70% of the district was
cleared. The ISF have made two big thrusts into the Old City to divide it into
quarters while others are moving along the north and south perimeter. Progress
has been on going, but slow. The IS pocket is collapsing, but it is still
putting up a hefty fight. With victory around the corner however, Iraqi
propaganda has gone into overdrive with constant stories of IS being done, the
fight almost being over, and the constant shifting and contradictory reports on
how much is left to be done.

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Comparison of June 24 vs June 26 shows latest advances by
Iraqi forces in Old City (Ninewa Media
Center)

Mosul was still recovering from the surprise attack by
Islamic State sleeper cells in three liberated areas of west Mosul. On June 25 IS
elements attacked Tanak, Yarmouk and Rajam al-Hadeed in the western section of
west Mosul. There were only a few fighters, maybe
20 or more, but they were able to sow a huge amount of chaos. They set fire to
cars and buildings, and led to hundreds of people to flee. The Golden Division
was called in to kill and capture the insurgents. Yarmouk
was surrounded, a curfew imposed, some remaining IS members were holding
hostages inside a house, and there might have been scattered clashes still
going on as well. The Iraqi forces (ISF) were conducting mass
arrests in nearby Rashidiya in fears of more IS cells operating there. An
investigation was launched by the ISF to discover what happened. Preliminary
press reports found that Tanak was supposed to be held by a tribal Hashd unit,
but actually had no security for the last twenty days.

Monday, June 26, 2017

Last two days various ISF sources have claimed 50-99% of Old
City is freed none of which are supported by latest government map of progress
in Old City. (Ninewa Media Cell)

Smoke hangs in sky from surprise attack by IS in liberated
Tanak neighborhood while civilians attempt to flee (Iraq Newspaper)

The Iraqi forces (ISF) predicted
that they would have all of Mosul liberated by June 25 the start of Eid.
Without having achieved that it made a series of exaggerated propaganda
releases. First, a lieutenant colonel from the Golden Division claimed
that 65-70% of the Old City was under government control. Then the Joint
Operations Command announced
that the Islamic State only held 1% of the district. That might have been a
mistranslation meaning only 1% of west Mosul, but you can never tell with Iraqi
statements. None of these claims were supported by the latest map released by
the government, which shows little progress over the last few days.

June 24 was another slow day of advances for the Iraqi
Security Forces (ISF) in west Mosul. The Federal Police said it freed Bab
al-Baid, one of the entrances to the Old City district. Other Federal
Police units were pushing
into the center of the district towards Farouq Street and the Omar al-Aswad
Mosque. The Golden Division were also on the outskirts of the Nouri
Mosque, which the Islamic State recently destroyed. A general from the division
claimed
that 50% of the Old City was now under government control and would be
liberated in 10 days. To the north of the Old City the Rapid Reaction Division
was still fighting
to take the Republican Hospital and sections of the medical complex in the
Shifa neighborhood. The ISF and Iraqi government are being overly optimistic as
usual predicting that Mosul would be freed in days and overstating how much was
taken from the insurgents. The government’s own maps of the Old City for
example do not show half of it freed. There are likely a few more weeks of hard
combat left before liberation can be proclaimed.

Saturday, June 24, 2017

Movement in west Mosul was slow for the day. The Federal
Police freed a church
in Bab al-Baid, one of the entrances to the Old City district, and were still
working their way through Farouq. There
was heavy fighting
in Bab al-Lakash, Sargakhana, and a few others areas of the district as well.
Shifa, which is north of the Old City along the Tigris River was declared freed
two times before, but the Rapid Reaction Division is still struggling to clear some
buildings there in the medical complex. Overall, the Iraq authorities are hoping
to declare the city freed by Eid, which is only a few days away. That’s
probably being overly optimistic as there is still a lot of hard fighting
ahead.

Friday, June 23, 2017

What’s left of the Al-Hadbaa minaret west Mosul after IS
blew it up (BBC)

The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) were still pushing into the
Old City of Mosul from multiple directions, and struggling over Shifa. The
Federal Police were fighting
over Bab Lakash and Bab
al-Baid, two of the entrances to the district, and received reinforcements as well. The Golden
Division held
60% of the Mashdah area, which is where the destroyed Nouri Mosque is located. The
Defense Ministry officially declared
the Shifa neighborhood north of the Old City freed, but in fact, the Rapid
Reaction Division was still attempting to take
some buildings in the medical complex. The ISF are always over anxious to
publicize its victories, and that also leads to many situations like these
where an area is called cleared when it’s not.

Thursday, June 22, 2017

As the battle for Mosul comes to a close the Islamic State destroyed
the iconic Nouri Mosque and al-Hadbaa Minaret. IS blew up the historic site,
while claiming that an American airstrike was responsible. The destruction of
the mosque was due to the rapid advance of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF),
which were said to be only meters away. The Federal Police were moving
from the south on Bab al-Jadid and Ras al-Jada. The Golden Division and the army’s
16th Division were in the northwest in Farouq.
The Rapid Reaction Division was coming down from Shifa in the northeast, which
was recently freed. The army’s 9th Division was doing clearing
duties in that neighborhood, and then will move
along the Tigris River. The strategy is to attack upon multiple fronts and
converge towards the middle dividing the Old City into several sections, which
will then be swept through.

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

The Iraqi forces (ISF) made another advance, while the
Islamic State is down to just one district under its control in Mosul. First,
the army’s 9th Division announced that the Shifa
neighborhood was finally freed. That allowed the ISF to also take the western
end of the Fifth
Bridge across the Tigris River. The Federal Police were still fighting for Bab al-Baid, attacked Bab
al-Lakash, and advanced 200 meters into the Farouq
area all in the Old City. The Golden Division freed Khazraj
in that district as well. The insurgents launched another counter attack into Danadan
south of the Old City, but was turned back. Shifa was a difficult battle,
holding up the Iraqi forces for almost a month. With that finally under
control, IS only holds the Old City. It will likely be the hardest part of the
entire campaign because the streets are so narrow military vehicles cannot
traverse them, the houses are so densely laid out that artillery, mortars and
air strikes will likely take a heavy civilian toll, and the militants have
nowhere to go, and will fight to the death. There are already signs of that as
more than 200
bodies were said to have been pulled out of the rubble caused by ISF air
strikes and artillery over the last few days.

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

(Wikipedia)

Sinjar in west Ninewa has become a flashpoint between the
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Hashd (PMU) and Yazidis after the Hashd
liberated the remaining villages in the district from the Islamic State
starting at the end of May 2017. The KDP immediately condemned the Hashd’s
presence leading to a war of words between the two. Journalist Wladimir van
Wilgenburg recently travelled
to the district. Here is an interview about what he saw. He can be followed on
Twitter @vvanwilgenburg.

Monday, June 19, 2017

Smoke rising from new assault upon Old City district West
Mosul (Bas News)

The Iraqi forces (ISF) finally launched a multi-pronged
assault upon the Old City district in west Mosul. The operation started
at 6 am. Two brigades from the Golden Division moved into Farouq in the
northwest, while the army’s 16th Division advanced from
Bab al-Sinjar and Bab al-Lakash
in the north. A Federal Police brigade attacked Bab al-Baid in the southwest.
They claimed
they broke through the first two lines of the Islamic State’s defenses, while
the Golden Division said progress was slow due to the dense layout of the
streets and houses and the large number of civilians. IS launched four counter
attacks consisting of car bombs and suicide bombers, but were turned back. The
Iraqis were struggling over the medical complex in Shifa
as well. Leaflets
were dropped over the city by the Iraqi air force telling people that the ISF
was coming, while loudspeakers blasted messages that the insurgents should
surrender, and civilians should
flee towards the Iraqi forces. Shifa and the Old City are the last two sections
of the city still under the militants’ control. The latter was originally
attacked in March, and the ISF quickly bogged down, and became a holding force
to tie down IS fighters, while others moved up the flank and eventually to the
north as well. Shifa was targeted when the latest offensive started at the end
of May and the Iraqi forces have been stuck in the medical center that consists
of several hospitals. Both are now under attack meaning the Mosul campaign is
finally coming to a conclusion.

Father and his
brother search dead bodies in west Mosul looking for his son (Voice of America)

There was fighting
across the two remaining areas in west Mosul under Islamic State control. First,
the Golden Division had to call off an attack upon Shifa due to heavy fire from IS, especially snipers in
hospital buildings and the use of human shields. The Federal Police claimed to have taken Hospital Street in the
neighborhood. Unofficially, a Federal Police Captain told Bas News they were in
control of 70% of the neighborhood, while another police officer went further saying all of Shifa was freed. June 16, the police were only supposed to have
30-35% of the area, which was below the 60% mentioned on June 11. The Rapid
Reaction Division assaulted Tal Zalat, which is one of the entrances to the Old City. Police
reinforcements also arrived outside Bab al-Jadid and in Bab al-Sinjar two other
ways into the Old City. When the new offensive started at the end of May the
Iraqi forces (ISF) moved into the Shifa medical complex and immediately got
ambushed by the insurgents and had to retreat. They have been struggling over
the area ever since. That hasn’t stopped the Iraqis from claiming they
controlled a varying amount of the neighborhood. The actual figure is
impossible to say since it keeps going up and down. The Old City on the other
hand, will be the last neighborhood taken on by the ISF. It has held up the
police for four months or more now. It has a large civilian population, and the
IS fighters have been able to successfully exploit the dense layout where
armored vehicles are too large to traverse the streets to build formidable
defense. The district will eventually fall, but it will be a bloody battle.

Saturday, June 17, 2017

Back in 2001 on September 11 I was watching CBS news with
Dan Rather to catch upon the day’s terrorist attack. One of the guests was
former CIA director James Woolsey who was part of the neoconservative movement
in the United States. Woolsey spent his entire interview talking about how it
was time for the United States to strike Iraq and remove Saddam Hussein even if
he had nothing to do with the Al Qaeda attack. For whatever reason this stuck
in my head as a very odd thing to say. By the end of the year I began to notice
a growing number of reports in the press about the United States considering
Iraq in the new war on terror. I decided then that I would find out why the
Bush administration was going to war. By 2002 I was reading everything I could
read about Iraq and posting long posts on message boards about the coming
conflict. In 2008 I decided I should publish some of these thoughts and started
this blog Musings On Iraq. Since then I have expanded my research to reading
around 45 papers a day, reading all the reports and think tank pieces that come
out about Iraq, networked with dozens of people who are involved in the country,
and done 120 interviews. I would like to thank all those people who have helped
me along the way and all the readers. In 9 years my site has gotten over 5.3
million hits. That wouldn’t be possible without all of you.

Picture of destruction in Rifai neighborhood west Mosul
freed on May 17, 2017 (Baghdad Post)

The Iraqi forces (ISF) continued to have problems with their
reporting. First, Bab
al-Sinjar one of the northern entrances to the Old City district was
officially declared freed yesterday. On June
16 however, three brigades from the army’s 9th Division seized a
market there. To the north, the Federal Police said they held 30-35% of the Shifa neighborhood.
This was despite the fact that the police have been fighting over the same area
of Shifa since the end of May, and claimed that it held 60%
back on June 11. The Rapid Reaction Division was still struggling
over the Old City as well. The pressure from Baghdad to have daily reports of
progress and victories is what leads to these contradictory stories and
exaggerations.

Friday, June 16, 2017

Only two neighborhoods remain under Islamic State control in
Mosul the Old City (large section in white) and Shifa (small section in white)

The Iraqi forces (ISF) were taking on one of the last two
neighborhoods in Mosul under Islamic State control, while they officially
announced another under government control. The Joint Operations Command
officially declared
Bab al-Sinjar one of the northern entrances to the Old City district freed. The
Rapid Reaction Division and 9th Division were still attacking the
medical center in Shifa.
That area was originally entered at the end of May, but the Iraqi forces got
ambushed by IS and driven off. Some reports have the ISF holding up to 60%
of the neighborhood, while others have them stuck in the medical center with
little other progress, so that figure may be an exaggeration. Shifa and the Old
City are the last two sections of the city under insurgent control. The latter
will be the last to be taken, and will likely be the most difficult due to its
dense layout and the fact that the insurgents have nowhere to go but die fighting.

Thursday, June 15, 2017

A force of at least 100 Islamic State fighters moved from
the Old City district (Sheik Abu Al Ula on map) down the Tigris River and
attacked Danadan and Dawasa neighborhoods (bottom right of map) forcing police
to temporarily retreat to the Mosul International Airport (bottom of map).
Zinjali (top left corner) was finally freed by Iraqi forces on June 13. Iraqis
are now trying to free Shifa (Shafaa on map) and its host of hospitals before
attacking the Old City the last major section of Mosul under IS control.
(Medecins Sans Frontieres)

The Islamic State launched a surprise attack upon the Iraqi
forces in two neighborhoods in southern west Mosul. Starting
at 3 am around 100
Islamic State fighters attacked the Danadan neighborhood coming out of the Old
City district. The fighters moved along the Tigris River and opened with 7 car
bombs from the front and 25 suicide bombers that hit the Federal Police from
the rear. One police commander told the press there might have been up to 50
suicide bombers, but that figure might have just come from the heat of the
battle with so many explosions going off. The Federal Police claimed that IS
sleeper cells were responsible for the attacks from behind. The insurgents set
fire to buildings to create smoke to try to prevent air strikes, took over a mosque
to announce their presence, and executed 6
people. They were able to expand the attack into Dawasa and Nabi Sheet as well.
The police were temporarily forced back to the Mosul airport outside of the
city. By the afternoon, the Iraqi forces (ISF) and a spokesman for the U.S. led
Coalition claimed that all the lost territory was re-captured. That was
contradicted by a man who talked with the Washington Post who said there were
still IS fighters on his block, and a Federal Police officer who told Reuters
clashes continued. Throughout the Mosul battle the insurgents have been able to
occasionally launch these large attacks and throw the ISF back on their heels.

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

The Iraqi forces (ISF) made two advances in the final battle
for Mosul. Zinjali
was declared freed for the second time. The last few days the ISF have been
contradicting themselves about whether the neighborhood was liberated or not. Bab
al-Sinjar, one of the northern entrances to the Old City was also taken. That
has shifted the heavy fighting to Shifa
and the Old
City district, both of which are along the Tigris River. The ISF are going
to attack the latter from multiple directions with the army, police, and Golden
Division. Shifa and the Old City are the only two sections of the city still
under Islamic State control. The combat is incredibly intense due to the dense
layout and the fact that the IS fighters have nowhere to go.

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

The Iraqi forces (ISF) continued to have problems with their
press releases about the Mosul battle. On June
9, the Federal Police announced that it had freed the Zinjali neighborhood
in the center of the city. Then on June 11 the
Joint Operations Command corrected that saying only the southern half of the
area was liberated. June
12 the Federal Police commander General Raed Shakir Jawadat doubled down
and again claimed that all of Zinjali was under government control. That was
contradicted by the fact that the Rapid Reaction Division head General Thamir
al-Husseini said that his
forces destroyed an Islamic State headquarters in Zinjali. Not only that but
the ISF were fighting
over a market in southern Zinjali, which showed that the entire neighborhood
was still contested. Another area under attack was Shifa, which is next door.
The ISF said they had made little progress, but then yesterday claimed they had
60%
of Shifa under control. Such a sudden advance might have been another
exaggeration. The main point of contention was the medical
complex, which is in the northern section. The ISF attacked the area at the
start of the new campaign at the end of May, but it was a trap set by the
insurgents who drove the Iraqi forces out. Finally, the ISF were still fighting
over Bab
al-Sinjar that is one of the northern entrances to the Old City district.
The Joint Operations Command also denied
news reports that the ISF were near the Hadbaa minaret in the Old City. Every
day the Iraqi forces have to announce victories in the war against the Islamic
State. This constant pressure, and competition amongst the different units
involved in the Mosul campaign leads to continuous embellishments, and
sometimes false stories. These recent events were a perfect example.

The Iraqi forces (ISF) have been consistently inconsistent
in their announcements about advances against the Islamic State and there were
new examples of that in the Mosul battle. First, the War Media Cell said only the
southern part of the Zinjali neighborhood in west Mosul was freed by the army’s
9th Division. The commander of the Federal Police claimed the entire
area was taken on June
9. The Federal Police were removing
explosives and looking for any insurgents that might have been left behind
within the neighborhood. There was a new attack upon the Bab al-Sinjar entrance
to the Old City district. The ISF have said they’ve been assaulting that area
for days now. This raises the questions whether that really happened, whether this
was just a new attack, or a new unit joined in. Finally, according to
the Federal Police 50% of Shifa was taken. The Iraqi forces have a bad habit of
claiming successes before they happen. That’s because of the constant pressure
to have daily press releases about victories in the war. That leads to these
types of situations where a neighborhood is called freed when it isn’t yet.

Sunday, June 11, 2017

After freeing Zinjali yesterday the Iraqi Security Forces
(ISF) were moving onto the Shifa
neighborhood. Shifa is in central Mosul along the Tigris River. The ISF
attacked the area at the start of the new offensive at the end of May seizing
several hospitals, but that was a trap set by the Islamic State, which then
drove the Iraqi forces out. An army brigade claimed
it penetrated 50 meters into Shifa. The ISF are also trying to take Bab
al-Sinjar, which is one of the entrances to the Old City district. Shifa and
the Old City are the last two parts of the city that the insurgents hold.

Saturday, June 10, 2017

The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) freed the second
neighborhood in their final push on Mosul. The Federal Police announced
that Zinjali was finally liberated. The ISF were also moving on Shifa
where there has been no
real progress so far. With this victory, there is just Shifa and the large
Old Mosul district left under Islamic State control. At the start of the new
offensive the ISF made a push into the Shifa medical district, but got ambushed
by IS and were forced out. The Old City has held up the police for four months
nw.

Friday, June 9, 2017

There were 520 security incidents in Iraq in May 2017
leading to 2,001 deaths and 1,459 wounded. The disparity between the dead and
injured, the latter should be 2-4 times higher than the former, is due to incomplete
reporting on casualties in Iraq, especially when it comes to government losses
that Baghdad is censoring. As the Mosul battle has winded down so have the
number of incidents. 520 were the fewest recorded in the year. Casualties have
slowly gone down as well in 2017.

The major fighting in Mosul remained in the Zinjali
neighborhood in the center of the city. The army, police and Golden Division are
all involved. The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) were originally overly optimistic
claiming it could clear Zinjali, Shifa and Saha by June 1. The last one is the
only one that has been liberated so far, and that was on June 2. The Iraqi
forces are constantly claiming that victory is around the corner as part of its
propaganda campaign. Others predicted that this final battle would be the
toughest so far and that is proving true.

IRAQ HISTORY TIMELINE

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About Me

Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the political, economic, security and cultural situation in Iraq via original articles and interviews. I have written for the Jamestown Foundation, Tom Ricks’ Best Defense at Foreign Policy and the Daily Beast, and was responsible for a chapter in the book Volatile Landscape: Iraq And Its Insurgent Movements. My work has been published in Iraq via NRT, AK News, Al-Mada, Sotaliraq, All Iraq News, and Ur News all in Iraq. I was interviewed on BBC Radio 5, Radio Sputnik, CCTV and TRT World News TV, and have appeared in CNN, the Christian Science Monitor, The National, Columbia Journalism Review, Mother Jones, PBS’ Frontline, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Institute for the Study of War, Radio Free Iraq, Rudaw, and others. I have also been cited in Iraq From war To A New Authoritarianism by Toby Dodge, Imagining the Nation Nationalism, Sectarianism and Socio-Political Conflict in Iraq by Harith al-Qarawee, ISIS Inside the Army of Terror by Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassahn, The Rise of the Islamic State by Patrick Cocburn, and others. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com